Backslide
by MrsCuddles
Summary: In the wakes of Jakes' farewell to Graceland, Mike relapses and there's only one person he can turn to for help. One person he trusts even if he shouldn't.


**A/N: hi! Long time no speaking! This is something I wrote really quickly to get back into the writing game. I'm not sure I'll write the follow up that's been floating in my mind for quite a while now. We'll see how this goes! I didn't spell check it and didn't have a proper read through... so. Enjoy, if you can?**

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The sunset was sad and scattered behind the smeared glass of her window. Paige could feel the fog from the humid weather seeping through her skin as she lazily trailed her fingers to chase the drops of rain on the glass, lost in her thoughts.

There were tons of things she couldn't understand. Things that affected her on so many levels.

Nobody was perfect, let alone her. Maybe she was the most unperfect human being to have ever walked on earth, but there was a fine line between evil and good. She certainly wasn't a fairy angel, but she wasn't a merciless temptress either. At least, not in her everyday persona.

When undercover, she was willing to go any lengths to do what was right, even if that meant taking a stroll in the land of the Wrongs. But at least at home - at Graceland, she'd always tried to live up to the good person she'd always thought she could be.

Until last summer. Something broke and changed her forever. The crazy, light hearted girl she was had disappeared and a grown up, cinical woman stood in her place. Sometimes she wondered if that was what she got for faking and lying for so long, even though it was for a good cause. If all those lies shattered her slowly, bit by bit, breath by breath.

 _Shack._

A sharp noise echoed through the room and Paige spoon around, knocking a pile of sheets off her desk in the way. One hand on her heart, the DEA agent was confronted with a cloudy pair of sad blue eyes.

Standing there, with nothing but a pair of dirty black jeans and a worn out hoodie on, Mike looked like a deer caught in the headlight. Just, not the type of deer he used to be. Her deer.

Funny how things changed within just a matter of months.

Despite her room being mostly dark, with only the moonlight illuminating the scene, Paige could clearly see his shallow face. His curved shoulders. His bloodshot eyes.

Neither of them dared to talk and they just stood there, facing each other, with nothing but their breathing breaking the silence.

Finally, Mike took a weak step forward and let his hands slip out of his pockets

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't know who else-"

From what Paige could tell, he wasn't drunk, so there was no way he'd mistaken her room for his. He purposely entered her room for a reason and, judging by his edgy appearance, it was some serious business.

"Mike-"

It all happened so fast. Before Paige could even realize what was happening, Mike's unsteady legs gave out and she found herself rushing over to him as he collapsed on his knees. Hunching over, he brought his arms back around his neck and curled up into a ball.

He started murmuring incomprehensible words and rocking himself back and forth.

Paige placed a tentative hand on his back and jolted back when he yelped out, as if in pain.

"Oh, Mike," she repeated his name, hoping for a miracle.

She knew what was happening. She'd been in this situation before.

Mike was sweating. His hair was sticking to his forehead. He felt hot, she could feel his heat even from her spot on the floor next to him. He was shaking and mumbling and crying to himself.

Relapse.

"I'll go get help."

Reaching out to get up, Paige struggled to keep her voice even. Had it been any other one of her roommates, she would have been able to keep it cool. Be cold enough to give them a piece of her mind. Maybe even a lecture on why this was dangerous for their career and themselves.

But this wasn't Charlie shooting up for a case, nor Johnny trying to get under with a street gang.

This was Mike. Somebody who was once her friend. Her confident. Her lover. Somebody she'd once loved and hated with every part of her soul. Somebody she still had feelings for.

Mixed feelings that had her crumbling at his feet when he grabbed her wrist with unusual strength to pull her back down.

Their eyes met instantly and Paige felt her throat closing up.

He looked helpless. Fragile. Gone.

"No." He pleaded, loosening his grip and curling back into a ball. "No. No. No."

Mike began chanting his plead over and over again and Paige did that first thing she could do. Getting rid of that voice that was pushing for her to go find Johnny or whoever else was in the house in that moment, she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close.

"No. No. He'll throw me out. No." His voice cracked and his careless struggles faltered, as he let Paige's touch sooth him down. Soon enough he'd stopped fighting her hold and just sat there crying, refusing to reciprocate her hold. "No. No. No."

"It's okay. It's okay." Paige murmured, lightly stroking his messy hair.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Mike's muffled cry resonated into her ears as a sickenly orange tube rolled out of his hand and down on the floor. "I'm so sorry."

Paige's eyes followed the hostile object rolling away from them and fought back the tears that were threatening to fall.

She knew this day would come. Everybody knew. Hell, even Briggs knew. Especially Briggs.

But nobody saw it coming. Things turned out so hectic after Jakes left. They were all following different leads to get back in touch with their old roommate before ICE or anybody else stuck their nose into it. They were balancing cases and the hunt for Dale and the repair work that had to be done in Graceland all at once.

To top it all off, Mike still felt responsible for half the shit that went down in their household. Not to mention how awkward and weak things still were between them.

If she wasn't too worried about him right now, she would be surprised he sought her help instead of Charlie's.

Closing her eyes to make the image of that stupid orange bottle disappear, Paige took a deep breath.

"Sh. Everything's gonna be okay. It's our secret."

She pulled him closer, letting him rest his forehead in the crook of her neck. Rocking him back and forth, whatever doubt she had about where they stood or where they should've started off from to rebuild their friendship went out of the window. Mike was in danger, he needed help. Whatever it was that they were still going through could wait.

They started with a secret, they ended with a secret, they would go on with a secret.


End file.
